The famous mining academy in Freiberg, Germany was founded in November 1765 by Prince Xavier of Kursachsen, and its mineral museum was founded at the same time, probably based initially on the collection formed by C.E. Gellert (1713-1795). In 1767 the Academy established its own mineral dealership (Niederlage), probably for the purpose of supplying students with study specimens for their own collections. It eventually expanded to supply specimens and geological/mineralogical equipment to schools, students and collectors throughout Germany, Europe and America, advertising minerals, ores, rocks and fossils, in large collections and as individual specimens

The long name of the dealership varies a bit in syntax but is generally some variation on "Königlich Sächsische bergacademische Mineralien Niederlage zu Freiberg. Usually the first two words (meaning "Royal Saxon") are abbreviated as K. S. Sometimes Mineralien Niederlage is hyphenated and sometimes not. In some labels the word bergacademische ("Mining Academy's") is omitted. Sometimes the words are shifted around to read Mineralien-Niederlage der K. S. Bergakademie (with a "k") zu Freiberg in Sachsen. In labels dating to after the founding of the German Republic in 1918 the company name changes to Staatliche Mineralien-Niederlage, Freiberg, Sa ("State Mineral Dealership, Freiberg, Saxony"), or Mineralien-Niederlage der Bergakademie Freiberg, Sa or Sächsische Mineralien-Niederlage zu Freiberg. As of 1970 the "Mineralien-Niederlage" portion was dropped entirely, and the labels read simply Bergakademie Freiberg, Sektion Geowissenschaften ("Geoscience Department"). All variations refer to the same, long-lived dealership. Many early labels carry a catalog number in the upper-right corner, suggesting that they were issued as large sets of specimens for teaching purposes; catalog numbers to more than 3,000 are known.

The company had numerous directors over the years. Karlheinz Gerl has listed the various successive administrators of the company as follows:

Integration of the mineral dealership into the collections of
the institute for mineralogy and the stockpiles for teaching took place at the
Mining Academy in 1956 under the direction of Dr. Albert
Bernstein.